Hair District

I came here for a Japanese hair straightening treatment and Yin and her staff did a terrific job. I needed a same day appt because I’m from out of town and was going back to Michigan the following day and they were very accommodating. I arrived at 330 or so and was there until a little after 8. Yin and her team were very thorough and professional; straightening w a brush and iron as necessary during the process to make sure that the straightening turned out well as they applied the various chemicals. I waited 72 hours instead of 48 to wash my hair which may or may not have made a difference but I wanted to give my hair every opportunity to turn out well!
Well it’s been three weeks and I looooovvvve my hair! I do use an Aveda weekly damage repair leave-​in about a couple of times a week due to the amount of processing. On the upside, I have hair that I don’t have to blow dry and use a straightening iron on every day.
Everyone who knows my ‘before’ wavy hair asks me about where and what I had done; it looks that good! :)
In total I paid around 360 or so including the cost for a small trim (which at $ 55+ tax was a bit much in my opinion, so clarify costs beforehand).
In any case, I will definitely return when I need my roots touched up and totally recommend HD and everyone who works there. :) I’m totally satisfied.

This was my first time getting my haircut in Toronto and I loved it! I showed my hairdresser, Richard, a picture and he cut my hair very well asking me how I wanted it. They washed, massaged, cut, and dried my hair, i had a really fun time. The total price (since its my first time and im a student) was $ 42.50. Had a wonderful experience!

This is the first time I have cut my hair anywhere in Toronto. I have recently moved here and I am very particular about my hair. I read a couple of reviews on Unilocal before going here.
Well, what can I say. The stylist and staff have exceeded my expectations. My haircut was done by Richard. Nice guy to talk to. Gave me good suggestions for places to see in DT. I showed him a recent picture of me and told him I wanted my hair like that. He took his time and made sure he was being very thorough. He asked me at regular intervals if I wanted them any shorter and went ahead accordingly.
There was a hair wash before and after the haircut by a lovely Bangladeshi lady.
I, definitely, am satisfied with my first experience here. I hope their service continues as I will be visiting them from now on. All the staff greeted me on my way out too.
DEFINITELY RECOMMEND TO ANYONE.

This was my first time here and trying out a new hairdresser is always an adventure. Patricia cut my hair and and I’ve got to say she seems to put a lot of effort in her work and has good attention to detail. Unfortunately, she also cut my hair way too short up the sides when I had just asked for the style to be kept the same with just a trim. It was one of those haircuts that look great 75% of the way through but slides downhill after that. I saw my family shortly after, and my mother immediately asked me «What happened to your hair?!» Still, I decided to wait a few weeks before passing judgment. And sure enough 2 weeks later it happened. I went to visit my family after not having seen them for a while, and my father said: «Hey… your hair isn’t so ugly anymore! Did you get a haircut?». I hadn’t. It just took that long for the haircut to look good. You can always trust your Asian family to be completely honest with you. I’m conflicted on whether an «ugly duckling» haircut deserves 3 stars but the staff were very nice and accommodating.

I went here for a mani-​pedi and a hair cut. My total was just 70 dollars before tax!!! the mani-​pedi was so fast and neat. The lady (I forget her name) was very thorough.
The lady who did my air-​cut didn’t seem very experienced, but she did a good job trimming my hair — it’s definitely not easy, given I have difficult, thick, wavy, and frizzy south Asian hair.
I’d definitely recommend this place — it’s clean, the staff is polite, and doesn’t add the unnecessary frills you end up paying a premium for.

Patricia was very friendly and helpful. She went through every details of my hair and instructed me how to do blow dry to give my hair the best look. Highly recommended :)

The hairdresser was very thorough and made sure she understood what I wanted! Very good cut, super color, I’ll definitely come back!
Edit: After a few days I realized that my hair actually looked yellow and the cut was horrible! The whole procedure took 4 hours and the outcome was more than a waste of mint and time! So I’m sorry, I need to downgrade my review!

I got my hair done with the Japanese Hair Straightening procedure today. I came in early morning and the process took about 4 hours, so I was out in time for lunch.
Well it turned out great! My hair is super beautiful and feels great. Im so so happy.
As a plus, everyone there is super friendly, welcoming, as well as professional; and there is a comfortable, as well as clean atmosphere. I also needed a trim and thankfully it was kept long despite knowing I had to cut more, it was kept the length I wanted and I was so happy! Definitely will be coming back for touch ups and trims. :) thanks again !

If you are a guy looking for more than a barber clipper haircut, this is it! It is a hair salon at a reasonable price.
Jennifer took the time to trim my hair with scissors and cut my hair according to my style. The shampoo and massage is a feature amongst Chinese salons and is much appreciated.

Richard is such a talent and just a wonderful man to talk to while getting your hair done. We chatted about pets and the weather which made our experience worth the money and time.
I recommend this salon for a quick trim and great conversation.

I came here to get my nails done, not my hair. The Shellac Manicure was being advertised for $ 30 dollars. Even though it’s mostly a hair salon this review is for their nail service.
The person attending me was really accommodating — she took off my old shellac without charge, and let me pick an accent nail with no fuss. She also spent time shaping them perfectly, and re-​did one of my thumbs that had bubbled. It was detail oriented and clean (everything was sanitized).
The only downside is that you can’t see the TV from the station so it’s a bit boring (they might want to flip the table) and there’s only one person doing manicures so they can do solo trips but not outings with friends.
Otherwise, it’s good service at a great location (right near Yonge and Wellesley subway station). I would go back for another set of nails.
Here’s the instagram of my nails:

Worst customer service ever!!!
I book an appointment with Patricia and when I came she had apparently another appointment. Since I wanted a lady to cut my hair I waited few minutes to have somebody else and then Patricia asked one hairdresser who was living since he was done for the day to take care of me. He was very pissed and told me to come for a cut. I didn’t feel comfortable to have someone pissed cutting my hair so I left. I won’t gonna go there anymore.
For the price they charged $ 50, I prefer to go somewhere else and have the service and customer service that I deserve.

I had been searching for a good hair dresser for years before I happened to stumble upon hair district. I have been a customer for over a year now and would not go elsewhere.
Yin (hairdresser) and her crew are very skilled and professional. She is also a good listener which helps translate customer needs (I find this to be lacking in most other places).
Construction is underway on Wellesley street which may make this gem hard to find. But definitely not worth missing.

Great as the original! I’ve been to many places, but nothing beats hair district!
Been going to hair district for over a year and when I heard that Jennifer was now working at the new one, I had to switch. Everyone working here is nice and courteous, regardless of who cuts your hair, you’ll be happy.
Men’s haircut price ranges from $ 30 – 45, depending on who cuts your hair. Jennifer is my favourite as she is great at suggesting different things to do with your hair.
Being brand new, they are still working on the décor but I’m looking forward to changes they make when I visit next time.

I strongly recommend Yin Lin as your hair stylist specially if you need someone for a Japanese straightening perm. I can be extremely picky and its hard to find a good hair salon where you trust the scissors. She uses amazing hair products, very friendly staff, very good location. I normally don’t pay more than $ 180 on my Japanese Straightening but it was worth it to spent $ 240 + haircut The place was clean, to me Yin is a Pro she cut and styles like magic, my hair is thick, wavy curly, long, coloured and dry with too much volume. Now I would recommend you to visit this place because they are excellent. After 4 – 5 hours later my hair looks amazing, soft, shiny. I’m looking forward to my new appointment. Patricia was a sweetheart too :)
STRONGLY RECOMMENDED! NO DISAPPOINTMENT!

Came here based on Unilocal reviews as I am new to Toronto and loved it.
This place is very clean and affordable, people are caring and friendly. Although they accept credit cards, if you pay by cash they take off the tax.
I was happy with my haircut. Richard is great ! Definitely coming back.

Patricia is a genius. And such a sweetie to boot!
I came in all confused about what to do with my newly straightened hair and she turned my incoherent ramblings about «coolish, sexy-​ish» into a brilliant do. One month on, it’s still growing out beautifully.
So obvs, I came back to Patricia when I needed my roots chemically straightened. She did an amazing job, AGAIN! And somehow, she didn’t have to trim it again because her cut works even with my roots flattened.
I’m looking forward to coming back to her for all my Japanese hair straightening and cut needs!

I decided to get my hair cut at Hair District because of all the positive reviews on Unilocal.What I did not realize until it was too late was that they do not know the first thing about curly hair. Even the hairdresser admitted to not knowing how to work with curly hair. But like Ian P said, the staff was very friendly and my hairdresser really did try her best at trying to learn how to work with curly hair. The poor thing would ask me every 3 minutes if she was «doing it right.» But really, it is not my job to teach someone how to cut and style hair. Ultimately I left the salon with a pretty crap haircut. I stepped out of the salon and jumped into first alleyway I could find and quickly tied my hair in a tight knot. Then I sprinted home to do some serious damage control. There was no way that I could let ANYONE see me in that state of disarray! AND! this unfortunate experience only cost me $ 60! What was I thinking!!! What a nightmare!
But yes, the staff was super nice. :/​If I had been interested in paying $ 60 for a conversation with a sweet hairdresser, I would have gotten my money’s worth. But no, I was seeking a good haircut!

Used to go their regularly when I lived around the block. It was the only place that seemed to get my hair right, and understood what it needed. I always went to Yin, she was the best. She is there most of the time, even though she has a newborn baby. I liked how late they are open, I had a busy work schedule, but they were always open until 9pm so I could get it done whenever I had spare time.
I probably went their 6 times in total, my hair always came out looking the way I wanted it. My favorite part of this salon was their scalp massage. It makes your brain feel revitalized, if that makes sense.
One downside is that the haircut takes a long time. They wash your hair, trim and cut your hair carefully, wash your hair again and massage your scalp, then put the finishing touches on. All this takes a little over an hour for a men’s haircut. It is worth it though, they are taking their time to make sure it looks right and its what you want.
The only other downside at this salon is that its a bit pricey. At other salons I paid $ 15−20+tip, this one cost about $ 35+tip. You get what you pay for though!

First off, this is a 2.5 star review, but I’ve rounded up because the staff were super nice and genuine.
Let’s start with the positive. This is a nice-​looking salon, very conveniently located to the Wellesley station area. The décor is calm and soothing. The staff were also quite warm and friendly. Bonus points there. I waked in without an appointment for my men’s hair cut, which is $ 25 (and up I find out) according to their sign.
The haircut starts with a washing session. They had a woman who was a little less friendly that did all the hair washing and sweeping, who took me to the hair washing station. This is the weirdest, least comfortable hair washing station I’ve ever been to. Now, if you’re 6’6″ tall, it might be sized just right, but I had to really struggle to keep my butt in the seat and my head in the sink.
The woman who cut my hair was very nice. A fairly recent Chinese immigrant, who like many immigrants to Canada has a degree and some professional training (in her case hotel management) but ends up working something else. Well, here’s where the problem is… I’m not sure that she actually has any official training in a salon. She didn’t ask what I wanted done and just started cutting… super weird. I tried to explain what I wanted. She had the strangest technique of sort of snipping the ends wildly. It reminds me of what other stylists do to create texture, but that seemed to be the only technique in her arsenal.
At first I wasn’t too worried, but then she started looking really puzzled. It became quite clear she didn’t really have a plan as she neared the front of my head. Maybe she’s better at women than white men. In any case, the top front of my head looks like an over-​textured mess and my bangs are not even at all. This is where I got a bit aggravated. The shampoo woman started to ask how much longer it was going to take… oh great, rush the confused woman cutting my hair.
Anyway, I ended up on the «and up» part of $ 25 paying $ 35. This is why I probably won’t be back. $ 35 is perfectly reasonable for a men’s salon hair cut with a professionally trained stylist. it was very clear that the woman cutting my hair had little to no professional training, and that’s just too expensive for this kind of cut.
P. S. They were super adamant about trying to get me to pay in cash despite having a credit card machine. After telling me the price, they said they’d have to add tax if I paid on a card. Looks like they’re keeping some of their business under the table.